SODO DIY

A few months back when I set up a new skateboard deck I always try to put something on the grip to make it my own. Our park, Marginal Way is located in the industrial part of Seattle know as the SODO District. Here is a link to the origin of the word "DIY" if you don't know.



Bold type and lighting bolt, fits the area I think. It's fun making stencils, bring them to the park, and letting your buds put them on their boards also. I sprayed the stencil on a wooded ramp at our park and some kid wrote under it, "CD DIY". Maybe something is happening there too?

Rose and skull, Wedding Invitations

Our friends Dawn and Todd are pretty cool people with some funny ideas on how to get hitched. Todd is the owner of Zero Zero Hair on Capital Hill. Every year they have some pretty crazy Halloween party’s so I wanted to help them out with this. Plus it’s not everyday that you can draw some bloody roses and skulls for a wedding invitation.
Originally they had plans to get them screen printed at my neighborhood screen printer, D and L but they where on a budget and time constrictions. So we went the easier path and had them printed at Stinko’s for a fair price.

I like the Internet for photo reference, definitely a big fan of hunting down cool books. But for a spot drawing the Internet is rad. First loose sketch, tracing paper, tracing paper, more tracing, and some beer (it was a Saturday people, seriously). A little back and forth with Dawn on the copy and there you have it. Not a bad way to doing something cool for some friends.

I heart zines and Field Notes

I like zines. Aaron Draplin down in Portland at DDC just sent me his side project, Field Notes. Field Notes are little books to jot down thoughts, doodles, grocery lists, or what not. I personally like the size and the feeling of the books. Plus they have some use full info, like a ruler printed on the back inside cover. Draw something.

The Fun House Presents: Marginal Way Skatepark Weekend Benefit + Mini Ramp Jam.

I finished this poster last week for our local Seattle D.I.Y. project, Marginal Way Skatepark. Since the birth of our park I have taken on the role of working on the promotional stuff for the events. Posters, handbills, tee graphics, stickers, banners, web images, etc. which is cool cause it has given me a chance to experiment with different styles of illustration and also to work on something that I truly can stand behind. It's all for the love of doing something fun to break up the daily routines.


So part of my blog is to let people know how I got to the end result, cause sometimes the best stuff is the middle. I got some inspiration from hanging out with my bud Dan. He and his lady have TONS of retro stuff around their house (in fact she is garage sale hawk). So being that the event was at The Fun House and skaters like BEER (especially Marginal Way supporters)! I thought that this image of this little guy sleeping in a corner would be a great way to start the poster out on the right foot.


I don't have a printer at home right now (really funny, thanks Kinko’s in Ballard) and finding a drunken skater for reference for my illustration could be hard to come by (well...maybe I could have just went down to Marginal to find one of our friends asleep, but this was late at night after my 9-5 contracting hours). Anyways, I like digit cams for this stuff. Set up a few bottles and the aid of my lady to snap a photo.... I was my own model for this illustration.



Tombo markers (my fav pens right now), tracing paper, and a light table.

Club Mouse Crippler -or- CMC !

What is Club Mouse Crippler? CMC is my outlet for me to share my process, thoughts, and/or news about what going with me, Shawn Bishop. Allot of times you see things that people create that look good and tasty all polished up and neat. I like to see the process that someone goes through to get to the final result, hopeful CMC will get down to it and share my brain waves with people that want to see how I might have gotten from A to B. Enjoy and thanks.